


Tale of a Darkened Heart (3rd Arc)

by Aloubell



Series: Destiny Song [3]
Category: Fushigi Yuugi, Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Crossover, Dimension Travel, Drama & Romance, F/M, Gen, Magic, Psychological Drama, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25939582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aloubell/pseuds/Aloubell
Summary: Sometimes, you just know when it is time to move on. Akimoto Tsubaki knew this and willingly left behind a world with precious, budding relationships. But with new skills and information at her disposal, as well as renewed motivation, Akimoto's journey continues in a new world full of energetic, colorful characters who only want to show her how to have fun. Such new and exciting experiences will surely throw her for a loop!What is Akimoto to learn this time around?The Host Club welcomes you inside~
Series: Destiny Song [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579228
Comments: 3
Kudos: 1





	Tale of a Darkened Heart (3rd Arc)

This is a continuation from Tale of a Darkened Heart (2nd Arc)

======================

"What, no temper tantrum this time?" Taiitsukun asked Akimoto who was still sadly staring off into the space where she once saw her friend.

Akimoto spoke softly. "No...not this time."

"What changed? I though you had feelings for that fellow."

Akimoto sighed; her shoulders slumped. "I didn't belong there. All I did was cause trouble and be a burden to the Sohmas. Their lives were already plenty complicated; they didn't need my drama as well. I don't even understand why you sent me there. I'm sure you knew I wasn't a good fit."

"Some good lessons can be taught even in unfavorable circumstances. You learned quite a bit during your stay there; not least of which was your complete control over the elements."

Akimoto remembered the old woman using this rationale before. It still seemed cruel, but the reality was that there wasn't much she could do about it. For the moment, Akimoto still preferred her current situation over being back in her own world.

Akimoto spoke in a defeatist tone. "Taiitsukun, why am I learning these things? What's the point of me knowing how to use my powers? Why awaken them in the first place?" She thought about it for a few moments, not expecting much of an answer. Something came to mind. "Am I supposed to fight off those shadow creatures?"

After a few seconds of silence, Taiitsukun replied, "Dealing with them is one of your duties, yes."

Surprised that Taiitsukun actually relinquished some useful information, Akimoto turned to face her. "Really? Then...why? What even are they? And why do they keep following me?"

"...They're called Shadow Maidens. You are very similar to who they once were. But somewhere along the way, their elements were stolen and their souls corrupted—leaving them as empty shells consumed by darkness."

Akimoto tried to internalize this information. " _All_ of them...?" She thought about how many she had seen up until now. "How many of them are there?"

"Thousands."

Akimoto gasped as the implication hit her. _Thousands had their elements stolen and became corrupted. They were like me. So then...will I end up like them too? Consumed by darkness..._ She thought about her curse and envisioned those shadow creatures in her head. _Is that...my fate?_

She needed more answers.

Akimoto spoke up. "How—"

"Enough talk. I've answered your question." Taiitsukun turned her back to Akimoto.

"But you've only answered two—"

"At the appropriate time, I will reveal more. But for now, I'll leave you with this: your element gifts you with the ability to take flight. Awaken this ability and a world of possibilities will be made available to you."

Akimoto tried to process this revelation. "Huh?"

And at that moment, Taiitsukun's body began to glow a bright golden light that was so brilliant that it caused Akimoto to shut and protect her eyes from its intensity.

After a few moments, Akimoto could tell from behind her eyelids that the light had dimmed.

She began to open her eyes. "W-Why did you—" But just as Akimoto opened her eyes, she realized that she was no longer in Taiitsukun's realm. Instead, Akimoto stood in front of a large European-style mansion surrounded by beautiful gardens and clear, blue skies.

Akimoto took a few steps in a random direction as she took in the scenery. This place was...refreshingly peaceful and so well kept.

While she continued to take it all in, she heard Taiitsukun's voice in her head. "Now, I'm aware that the stipulations I had for you in the last world were a bit...unfair and unrealistic. Therefore, in this world, you are allowed to let some people know about your powers, but keep the fact hidden from the general public. I will leave it up to you on how to interpret that. Good luck."

Akimoto sighed. _Well, at least she's self-aware._ Right at that moment, a familiar chill ran down Akimoto's spine. _Oh no._ She frantically looked around to see where the Shadow Maidens were, also being mindful of any civilians that might potentially be in the area.

"Well hello there, cousin," said a female voice...in a Southern Belle accent.

Akimoto whipped her body around to find a really tall shadow figure with the silhouette of a woman. She had almond shaped golden glowing eyes and a wide Cheshire cat smile with sharpened teeth. Her "hair" was in the shape of long pigtails that nearly touched the ground.

_So...she's must be the ringleader who tried to get me to hurt my friends. She matches the description to a tee._

"I'm ever so glad you made it safely to this new world," she taunted. "It looks pretty nice here. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun."

Akimoto glared at her. "Who are you? And why are you so different from the other Shadow Maidens?"

"Ooo!" The Shadow lady squealed in delight. "So, old Taiitsukun finally told you what we were. How nice! But let me guess: she's still holdin' out on you, isn't she?"

Akimoto blinked in surprise. "You know Taiitsukun?" _No, wait...that makes sense. If Shadow Maidens were all once like me, then she might have commissioned them to go on some journey as well._

"I sure do. We go way back. You could say that she helped me get to where I am today."

Akimoto gave a cautious, yet bewildered look. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
The Shadow Maiden sidestepped away from the question. "My name's Stella, by the way. Ya know, just so that you could finally put a name to my beautiful face."

"Answer the question," Akimoto told her sternly while simultaneously activating her powers.

Stella shrugged. "Nah. Ya see, unlike Taiitsukun, I have no shame in saying that I don't feel like telling you. You'll just have to sit and ponder on that in your own time." Her smirk widened. "Oh, and before I forget..." She snapped her fingers.

Right at that moment, a standard Shadow Maiden came hurling towards Akimoto from her side and slammed right into her, sending her flying several yards and crashing through one of the gardens. The impact made Akimoto lose grip of her wand and it flew out of her hand. She struggled to sit up and heard Stella laughing at her. Akimoto clenched her fists in frustration as she kept her eyes on her enemy. She knew she had to find her wand but was wary of what might happen if she took her eyes off of Stella. It was quite likely that there were other Shadow Maidens waiting around to be summoned. While still watching Stella, Akimoto felt around on the ground for her microphone.

"Can't use your powers without a wand yet? How sad. Some 'last hope' you are," Stella patronized. Akimoto ignored that and continued to search for her wand. "I bet the old woman never even told you our weakness, did she?"

That made Akimoto freeze as the idea was put out there: they have a weakness?

Another Shadow Maiden used this distraction as an opportunity to phase through the ground underneath Akimoto and forcefully headbutt her right in her stomach. The impact was so intense that it knocked the wind out of her and launched her several yards into the air. Still reeling from the pain, she went hurdling towards the ground. But before she had a chance to violently land, her body hovered a few inches off of the ground for a few seconds before safely dropping her. Since she was so distracted by the wind getting knocked out of her, Akimoto didn't notice what had just happened.

"Tsk tsk." Stella slowly walked towards Akimoto, who was still wincing while she lied on the ground. "I expected more from someone made up of five Fragments." The tall Shadow Maiden's arm transformed into a long, cone-shaped, pointed javelin. "Sorry about this. Oh wait...no I'm not." She lifted her deadly weapon above Akimoto's body and prepared to strike.

"The feeling is mutual," Akimoto quipped as she swiftly pushed back onto her knees and readied her wand which was previously concealed. Stella's eyes widened in shock, but she didn't have enough time to react to Akimoto releasing a point-blank, straight blast of powerful, tornado-like winds that consumed her entire body and sent her flying towards the atmosphere. Her screams could be heard trailing off the further away she was blasted.

Akimoto sighed once Stella was out of sight. But before she had a chance to relax, the uneasy feeling she always had when Shadow Maidens were around did not cease. At this point, more Shadow Maidens began to pop up from the ground like gophers and they all launched themselves at her. She fended them off using quick, but powerful puffs of wind that pushed them away. Keeping her surroundings in mind, she knew she couldn't get too crazy with the powers as to minimize destruction, but she still did her best, nonetheless. It didn't take long, unfortunately, before she started to become a bit overwhelmed with their increasing numbers. This might not have been so bad if she had a bit more freedom to use whatever element she wanted. But they could phase through solid matter, so earth and ice were out. Fire was too destructive, and she had her doubts on water doing much of anything.

_These guys have a weakness...what is it?_

The Shadow Maidens began to dogpile on top of Akimoto. In response, Akimoto conjured up her dome barrier that kept them physically off of her. This barrier was made up of magical, compacted winds swirling around so quickly that they formed an almost solid barrier. However, because it was made of winds, they couldn't penetrate it, apparently. There were so many Shadow Maidens shoving themselves onto the walls that they covered access to the outside almost completely. Akimoto couldn't even see the blue skies anymore, only round, yellow glowing eyes staring at her. Remembering how these things were perfectly capable of phasing through the ground below her, she knew she had to act fast. She increased the amount of wind making up the barrier and quickly expanded it, blowing away the pile of Shadow Maidens that had accumulated.

Anticipating an attack from below, Akimoto began to make her way towards a different spot. Turning around, she faced a pointed, black weapon placed inches away from the point between her eyes.

She recognized the Cheshire cat smile. "Now now, cousin. Did you really think that you got rid of me?"

But before Akimoto could react, two Shadow Maidens flew in from behind Stella and took hold of both of Akimoto's arms and lifted her off of the ground. She tried to struggle free, but it was no use.

Stella giggled as she morphed her weapon back into her arm. She began to clap. "Bravo, Aki. Tricking me like that was an awfully cute strategy. I gotta say, I'm glad you didn't go down so easily. Looks like I'll get to have some fun with you after all."

Akimoto narrowed her eyes at Stella.

"I could easily Turn you now, but..." Stella looked around the environment they were in. "This is a really pretty and peaceful world. Go ahead and have your little, frivolous adventure. I'm sure Taiitsukun has some homework she wants you to complete too...and all that jazz. Enjoy yourself."

Akimoto didn't say anything. She just continued to glare.

"What's wrong, cousin? You don't trust me? Really, I want you to have everything little thing that's coming to you," she snickered. "You can experience this world in peace, I promise. But rest assured, I have a whole lot of chaos in store for your future."

At that moment, Akimoto began to feel another presence. It felt as if there was someone right behind her. But before she had a chance to turn her head to get a good look at them, she suddenly lost consciousness. Her whole body went limp.

In reality, there wasn't anyone behind her...at least, no one that could be seen.

"Aww...why'd you go and do that for?" Stella asked the unseen force.

"You were overstaying your welcome," said a different female voice in Stella's mind.

Stella crossed her arms in a huff. "Taking away a lady's audience is so uncivilized."  
  
"Just leave already. That's an order."

"Tch. I've got better things to do anyway."

And with that, the Shadow Maidens holding up Akimoto slowly placed her on the ground as they disappeared into the ground below. Stella soon followed, continuing her unsettling smile as she caught her final glimpse at the young woman. "Ta ta for now!"

Akimoto continued to lay unconscious on the ground, unaware of the two figures hovering over her sleeping self.

=================================================

Once Akimoto regains consciousness, her eyes shoot open and she abruptly sits up. She finds herself lying in a large, comfortable canopy bed in an even larger, unfamiliar room.

"Where...am I?" She continued to look around. No signs of Shadow Maidens. Spotting a large window, Akimoto stood up from the bed and looked out of it. She was apparently on the third or fourth story of a very large structure. Scanning the area, she recognized the gardens below. _That looks like where I fought the Shadow Maidens. But...if I'm in the mansion from before, then...shouldn't there be some damage done to the garden over there?_ Akimoto could have sworn that that was where she first landed after the grunt Shadow Maiden attacked her, but the spot looked just as perfect and kept up as it had been before the scuffle began. Weird.

 _Hold on a second..._ Akimoto looked around her and patted herself down. _Where's my wand?!_

She began to internally panic as she searched around the room, under the bed, between the covers and sheets, in the drawers, etc. She then raced back towards the window.

 _What if I left it outside? Why the heck did I even pass out in the first place? I have to go get it!_ Akimoto bolted towards the door, but immediately froze as she saw the doorknob being jerked and begin to twist. Not knowing what to do and knowing full well that she couldn't make it back to the bed in time to pretend to be asleep, she just stood there, preparing for anything, but still silently panicking about her missing wand.

The door opened and two slender, identical teenage boys with somewhat stylishly messy light auburn hair and amber eyes stood there with excited expressions as they saw Akimoto finally awake.

"Well, look whose finally up and about!" Said one of them in an amused tone.

"We thought we heard someone moving around in here. We're glad it was you!"

Akimoto stood silently, not knowing what to do or say. As per her default, she had on her poker face.

"What's wrong, milady? Cat got your tongue?" Said one of the twins as the two of them approached Akimoto. She instinctively took a step backwards.

"Are you scared of us?" Said the other one, also amused.

"You should be thanking us. We're the ones who made sure you had a nice place to stay while you were sleeping. You're welcome!" When the two of them finally reached her, they rested their elbows on her shoulders and gave her sly looks.

"We patiently waited almost two days for you to wake up, so could you please talk to us?"

_Two days? I was out for two days?! Why the heck did I pass out? Who...who was that behind me?_

Akimoto slowly stepped away from the twins, creating healthy distance between them.

She stared at the ground. Not knowing what to do, she evaluated the situation. Usually, when exposed to new people, it was an automatic go-to for her to act apathetic and not attempt to form any bonds. However, now that she's aware of how she's actually capable of making and keeping friends...maybe it was okay for her to change her approach? Two times now she had to leave behind close friends. While she may be privy to Taiitsukun's tendency to take her away from worlds she was forming bonds in, Akimoto had to face reality that she was lonely. For years, she had tried to ignore this feeling and thought she could fool herself into not caring if she was alone, but now that she's had the opportunity to have friends, the deep, cold, painful hole of loneliness creeps its way back in whenever she loses them. The loneliness hurt even more now that she knew what it was like to have them. She was in a new, unfamiliar world and these two boys seem to be really interested in her company.

This was a new world and a new chance. Her apathetic façade was meant for her original world. Somewhere along the way, she had forgotten the core reason for why she was on this journey: to find the person or people who were unaffected by her curse, to not be a burden or bring misfortune to them, and to be useful and needed. Acting uncaring was counterintuitive towards her goal. It was usually a necessary evil considering her curse, but...these people didn't know her. She can try to be positive and maybe her curse won't activate, and no one will get hurt.

Cocking an eyebrow in confusion, of the twins finally spoke up. "Did you lose your voice or something?"

"No...I..." Akimoto finally said something, fighting through the unfamiliar uncomfortableness that was being friendly towards a stranger. "I'm grateful." She gave a slight bow. "Thank you for taking care of me while after I blacked out." When standing back up straight, she gave a forced smile.

The twins frowned. "Why're you trying so hard to be happy?"  
  
"It's obvious that that smile isn't real."

She blushed from being embarrassed. "I'd appreciate it if you ignored that."

"We're not socially inept, you know. You woke up in an unfamiliar place and are being interrogated by two handsome strangers, feel free to feel uncomfortable if you want to," he winked at her. "We won't judge."

"I kind of thought it was cute when you were acting all defensive," said the other twin.

Akimoto's face reddened some more as she kept up her forced smile and looked off to the side somewhere to avoid their gazes. "My name is Akimoto Tsubaki. What's yours?"

The two boys swiftly slid over to her and stood right in her face, completely ignoring personal space as they both grinned at her. "I'm Hikaru Hitachiin."  
  
"And I'm Kaoru Hitachiin."

The close proximity was making Akimoto even more uncomfortable. She couldn't help but take several steps back and away from them. She backed up so far that her back hit the windowsill the she was looking out from earlier. Looking over her shoulder to the outside, Akimoto suddenly remembered that she was worrying about her wand.

"By any chance...have any of you seen a...random microphone lying around somewhere? It might have been near me when I passed out."

Hikaru and Kaoru gave each other sideways glances.

One of them pulls out the object of interest from behind them and holds it up for her to see. "Is this what you're talking about?"

Her eyes widen before she sighed with relief. _Thank goodness._ "Yes." She walks towards them and reaches out for it. "Thank—"

"Is this your magic wand or something?"

Shocked by the question, Akimoto stood frozen in place, momentarily not knowing how to respond. _How would someone even guess that by looking at a microphone?!_

"She's awfully quiet, so that must be true."  
  
Akimoto smiles nervously. "I don't know why you'd think that. It's just a microphone...and it means a lot to me, so if you could just—"

One of the twins holds up a phone screen to Akimoto's face and tells her to watch. Her stomach begins to churn as she watches a recorded video of her fighting Stella and the other Shadow Maidens. These two saw everything!

The twins gave her devious looks.

"We know you have magical powers."  
  
"There's no point in hiding it from us."

_That's not even fair! Some people in this world already found out about me and I had absolutely no control over it!_

Akimoto gulped and she put on a more serious expression. "How many people were around to see that fight?"

They grinned.

"Just us! All of our servants and other workers were too preoccupied with their jobs to notice what was going on. Pretty lucky for you, huh?"

"I thought you were really cool out there," said one of the twins. "Looks like you lost, though. That's too bad.

Akimoto lightly scowled and looked away, her frustrated blush returning to her cheeks. That was the second time she lost to those things. It was already shameful and now these strangers know about it.

"Can I have my wand back, please?" She asked bluntly.

They ignored the question. "Are you some magical princess from a different dimension who has come to vanquish those evil dark creatures?"

"Or maybe you're some inter-dimensional police officer looking to take in violent shadow creatures?"  
  
"A bounty-hunter, perhaps?"

"That's a neat idea! But she has magical powers, do police or bounty hunters have that? She could just be a witch or sorceress or something."  
  
"Maybe where she's from—"

"CAN I PLEASE HAVE MY WAND BACK?" Akimoto asked in a much louder, exasperated tone. The twins stared at her. "And I'd also appreciate it if you didn't show that video to anyone. I'm trying to go as far under the radar as possible, so..."

The teenage boys exchanged devious glances and smirked.

"Sure, we'll give you your wand back—"

"And we'll throw in the promise of not showing this video to anyone."

Akimoto felt a wave of relief. "Thank yo—"

" _But_ you have to agree to stay here with us, come to school with us, and...maybe use some of your magic to entertain us when we're bored. What do you say?"

Akimoto was speechless as she stared at them blankly.

"I think that's a pretty fair deal, what do you think?"

"There's no way you can afford to stay in our mansion, so I think it's a fair price to pay."

Akimoto felt something inside of her crack.

_I made a mistake._

_I was friendly to the wrong people._

_They just want to use me._

Another crack.

_They're not interested in knowing me. They don't care about my feelings._

She watched them grin at her. They looked like the grinning drama masks, mocking her.

Another crack.

_I'm just a plaything._

In the deep recesses of her mind, Akimoto could vaguely sense something. This feeling of being used felt familiar, but the memory seemed so far away.

Before that thought could go any further, the curse had activated, and the twins got hit with an intense increase in the gravity surrounding them. Both were violently forced to the ground, unable to stand back up. Akimoto noticed that they had dropped her microphone, so she picked it up without giving her movements or surroundings much thought.

"What's going on? What is this?!" One of them struggled to say.

The other had a hard time saying anything at all.

"Kao...ru!" The one that must have been Hikaru tried to reach for his brother, but to no avail.

Akimoto just stared at them, almost as if she were in a trance. In her vision flashed a black, smokey ring of energy surrounding her that seemed to be pushing them downwards. At that moment, she "woke up" and gasped immediately stopping the darkness' hold over them. She blinked and was no longer able to see the black energy. Did she imagine that?

Hikaru and Kaoru remained on the floor, trying to recover and process everything that just happened. They're checking each other over making sure the other was okay.

Akimoto was horrified. She had done it again. New to the world and it never failed for her to think too hard about some negative thing and hurt others from her curse. Things were supposed to be different this time.

They didn't deserve that.

She backed away from them and spoke remorsefully. "I'm...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." She hugs herself, trying to stay calm, but unable to not be negative. "I'll...I'll do whatever you want. Or...I'll leave...I'll do whichever. I'm so, so sorry." She glances over at the window and considers escaping from it.

However, surprisingly, one of the twins starts laughing out loud. "That was such a rush! I wasn't expecting that at all! It was kind of scary but thrilling! Right, Hikaru?"

His brother looked a bit surprised mixed with concern. Within a couple seconds, he grinned at him. "Yeah! Turns out Akimoto here has got some tricks up her sleeve. These magic types sure are tricky!"

Akimoto blinked in surprise. _What's happening?_

The twins stood up and adjusted themselves before addressing Akimoto.

"Did I hear her just say that she'll do whatever we want?"  
  
"That's what I heard."

_Wait...were they pretending to be affected by my curse? No...no, that's stupid, my curse definitely activated, and they were pushed down by the gravity. So...why are they treating it so lightly?_

"Why...?" Akimoto began to ask.

They both looked at her curiously.

"I just hurt you guys...why do you still want me around? I might accidentally slip up and hurt you again." She clenches her fists. "I'm cursed. There's a curse on me. Sometimes when I get upset, a force surrounding me either increases the gravity around someone like it did to you guys, or it can amplify any deep-rooted negative emotions. Or both...at the same time..."

"Well...the warning came a little late but..."

"Better late than never!"

Akimoto once again blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

The boys walked over to her and patted her on the head. "We can handle what you throw at us."

"It'll just be a fun learning experience. Besides, magical powers _and_ a curse? It's like we're the protagonists of an awesome new movie. Bring it on!"  
  
They wink at her.

_No, seriously. What is happening?_

"And since you said you'd do whatever we say, for starters, we want you to come to school with us and meet the rest of the Host Club."

"We'll have tons of fun!"

This kind of optimism was...new...It was both endearing and suspicious. Akimoto couldn't tell which trait matched it the most.

She still didn't like the idea of being used for their amusement, but perhaps these two were making their intentions sound more malicious than they actually were...? At the end of the day, Akimoto knew they couldn't take whatever it is they wanted to do too far. She had enough dignity to not do _everything_ demanded of her. Besides, it wasn't like these people could actually hurt her. After all, it was seeming like this was once again a world were magic was rare or unpracticed entirely. It might get her kicked out of that world, but she could easily defend herself.

Maybe going off with these guys was a good thing...? Taiitsukun usually had a reason for dropping Akimoto in a particular spot. She was sure that the old woman wanted her to meet these twins. The reason was unclear, but then again, it always was at first.

Maybe...maybe these twins were going to be the key behind her getting her wish fulfilled. Those two were obviously not the ones she was looking for. Somewhere out there was someone that was immune to the effects of her curse. She knew they existed. They just had to. 

Akimoto chose to trust Taiitsukun.

There were new lessons to learn and new people to meet. Come what may.

"So...uh..." Akimoto sheepishly asked, "What's a Host Club?"


End file.
